Our children exhibit abnormal behavior – Afaka Parents cry out

The parents of the students of the Federal College of Mechanisation, Afaka have lamented that 30 days after the release of their children, most of them are exhibiting abnormal psychological behaviours.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Chairman of the Parents Forum, Abdullahi Usman, on Sunday.

According to the statement, the parents had hope that the children would undergo thorough psychological tests and rehabilitation process that would eventually help with their total recovery, alleging that the Federal Ministry of Environment and the institute has abandoned them to their fate.

The statement read in part: “The parents resolved to pursue compensation so that they would be able to treat their traumatized children. The release of the students ignited hopes that they would immediately be made to go through the very necessary medical check-up to ensure their soundness of health, especially to heal them of all terror-inflicted trauma that could negatively affect their normal living.

“The parents of the students had expected the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN) to immediately set a process in motion for such necessary checkup and compensation to assuage all negative effects of terror they and the children severely suffered.

“We, the parents, have received no inkling of hope from the Ministry or Institute for any compensation over the psychological damage inflicted on the children during their 56-day encounter with terror.

“We wish to stress that consequent upon the foregoing, most of the children have not been living their normal lives since their release by the abductors. Yet, the Ministry and the Institute seem insensitive to their plight and indifferent to their trauma.

“Accordingly, we, parents of the released students, hereby categorically demand immediate compensation from the Ministry and the Institute to enable us to treat them of their trauma. We are resolute in our resolve to bark and bite in our pursuit of compensation for our children, whose abduction was for no fault of their own, from whatever authority responsible for such compensation.

“We will go to every extent, using every legal instrument available to us – bonafide and law-abiding citizens of this country – to get what we believe our children deserve to facilitate their return to normal life,” the statement declared.

(Nigerian Tribune)